


17's Promise

by RazzleDazzleBerry



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Angst, One Shot, Other, some gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:02:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24583486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RazzleDazzleBerry/pseuds/RazzleDazzleBerry
Summary: Android 17 delivers his promise to 18 after her family passes on from old age.
Relationships: Android 18/Krillin (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 21





	17's Promise

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for this angst. I don't know why I felt it was necessary to break my own heart and all of yours.

17 stabbed the tip of his shovel into the ground near the freshly churned pile of dirt. The back of his hand wiped the sweat from his brow as the summer sun heated the island to an unbearable sweltering degree. However, the overhead canopy of trees shaded this part of the island and offered a slightly cooler atmosphere. 

17 rested his back against one of the island’s thick sequoias. It was tranquil here. Flowers swayed in the breeze, chirping birds created soft melodic music, and a nearby river reflected the sun’s evening rays. Such natural beauty offered a restful place of eternal serenity, though deep in his heart he felt anything but peaceful.

The tree’s bark crackled as his impenetrable back slid against it. 17 sunk to the forest floor, his hands catching his face as silent sobs shook his body. A tumultuous storm overcame him as an onslaught of heavy tears poured from his red rimmed eyes. He hated everything about his whole stupid life. The only good to come from it was his family, but they were long gone, lost to sands of time as their mortal souls moved onto a higher plane of existence. 

He cursed Gero. Cussed him for this curse of robotic immortality. Everyone he loved was dead, and everyone his sister loved was gone. 17’s arms wrapped around his waist as he doubled over and painfully cried out. Why? Why had he been so stupid? Why had he fallen for Gero’s tricks? Hadn’t his childhood been horrible enough and now he was doomed to live as long as the earth without anyone to share his life with?

17 and 18 escaped their drunken mother’s abusive home at a young age, and became wanted criminals before their fifteenth birthdays. By the time they were 19, Gero found them on the run from the FBI after they knocked over a local bank. He promised not to turn them in if they would just participate in a little experiment of his; an experiment he was certain could increase their speed, strength, and defense exponentially. No one would ever pose a threat to them again.

More than a hundred years had passed since that day, and 17 could still hear his sister’s muffled screams as Gero cut into her body and ripped out her bones before replacing them with sturdy metal rods. He hated himself. He hated himself for convincing 18 to go along with Gero. ‘Just think of the money we can grab if bullets can’t even hurt us?’ he had told her. After that first surgery, he vowed never to place money over the worth of his own sister again, and he vowed to do everything he could to make their tragic fates up to her. However, he couldn’t fulfill that promise until she visited him early that morning. 

Maron, sweet, lovely Maron, passed away in her sleep at the old age of 84, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Unlike most 84 year olds, Maron was lucky enough to have her teenage mother holding her hand as she took her final breath. 

Maron’s life had been long, eventful, and full of love. She had learned so much from her parent’s loving example. 18 remained by Krillin's side even as strangers snidely accused her of being a gold digger. Why else would a teenager marry an old man? She loved him to the very end. This time, the greatest foe had claimed his life so that not even Shenron could bring him back; the blessing of old age finally summoned the angel of death.

17 recalled how hard it had been for 18 to watch her husband die, but she held on for her daughter. Maron was everything to her. She was the morning sun and the sparkle in a child’s innocent eye. No matter how many wrinkles crept along her face with each passing year, 18 always saw her as her baby. Her motherly love never faltered, and her love for her grandchildren never wavered. However, just like Krillin, the angel of death claimed Maron, too.

After the funeral, 18 visited 17. She flew to the island, but she didn’t land. She crashed into the beach’s sand, collapsed beneath the weight of her broken heart. Not even the cool ocean water could wash away the pain. 17 helped her to her feet, but as she grasped onto his forearms, an unstoppable waterfall fell from her painfully scrunched eyes. He knew then what she needed. She needed him to make this right. 18 didn’t have to, but she whispered it anyways, “Brother, kill me.”

Her pained face faded from 17's memory as he sat beside the fresh pile of dirt. The silent sobs finally broke into loud body wracking cries, and 17 knew this was the punishment he deserved.


End file.
